Cirrus@Austlit

'Gritty and unflinching morsels of crime fiction rage across these pages. There's nothing warm and cosy here, but then that's not the reality of policing: cops deal with the darkest aspects of humanity and then have to live with that exposure. Some of those cops become writers.

'When crime fiction is penned by authors who have worked and risked their lives as cops at the coalface, the stories that emerge deliver exquisite realism and brutally honest emotions.

'The fifteen authors featured in this first-of-its-kind anthology have variously worn their uniforms and carried their badges across law enforcement in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, as they have served and protected their communities.

'These short stories are as varied and vivid as the hard-earned experiences of their creators. The settings include the past, the present, and the future. The plots have murder aplenty, corruption, drugs, paedophilia, mental health, and suicide. The line-up of protagonists includes uniformed officers, detectives, and criminals, amongst others. The actions, the observations, the reminiscing, and the self-reflection of these fictional characters bring the reality of the police experience alive on the page. It is those brushstrokes of daily police life that bring a special and unique flavour to this assortment of crime fiction.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.